Plastics processing, including Injection moulding, is an important sector of manufacturing industry for the island of Ireland. With the demand for plastics components, particularly in the medical sector, set to grow in the future, companies are giving significant thought to their ability to access a sufficiently well-trained workforce moving forward.
First Polymer Training Skillnet deliver current, best practice training which meets the demands of employers and employees in the plastics industry. Maintaining strong links with employers FPT Skillnet are able to preserve their position as the industry-recognised, leading provider of accredited training in plastics.
Nigel Baker of ENGEL UK is eager to support the future of the Irish plastics sector. He explains, “ENGEL UK have provided an energy efficient, next generation e-mac injection moulding cell to the training centre. This all-electric injection moulding machine combines flexibility with a minimum footprint and offers absolute cleanliness, together with perfect repeatability which ensures consistent high quality of the parts produced. ENGEL provide a great number of machines to processors working in the medical sector. We have a reputation for supplying machines that meet the specific requirements of the sensitive medical industry. We offer utmost safety and absolutely cleanroom-compatible production and precision. Additionally, full documentation and traceability in the manufacturing process is available. With the broad spectrum of medical moulding in Ireland, in addition to all the other sectors, we anticipate that this versatile machine will be an extremely useful addition to the training centre. It is also hoped that First Polymer Training Skillnet will also be able to take advantage of the online training and webinars offered by ENGEL to all their customers.”
Alan Harrington, technical training specialist at First Polymer Training Skillnet says “The ENGEL machine has many key features which are new or unique to First polymer training. ENGEL‘s iQ weight control software which automatically detects viscosity fluctuations and compensates for them in the same shot, resulting in less rejects and consistent quality of moulded parts, and thus higher productivity is one. We also have the auto-protect injection monitoring self-learning system with highly sensitive protection of the mould during injection and iQ clamp control which allows the operator to monitor the mould breathing signal and to optimise the clamping force. Our machine is additionally equipped with an ENGEL VIPER 12 RC300 integrated robot with its Smart software to achieve the shortest cycle time and maximum efficiency.”
With ENGEL injection moulding machines leading the way in single source solutions, from standard single component injection moulding to technically sophisticated applications, such as medical and pharmaceutical components, it is clear that the opportunity to train on one of these machines is a valuable experience. Alan Harrington offers more insight
“Ireland has a very buoyant and busy injection moulding industry which is growing each year. The sector boasts a highly technical workforce and training has played a huge part in supporting the industry. Demand for injection moulding training has been very strong, even considering the absence of face to face training and we have been successfully delivering injection moulding training on-line. Although challenging, this has been very well received and we have put a lot of work into trying to mimic a face to face course as much as possible. We believe this will allow us to deliver blended training in the future if required. We are looking forward to hosting a virtual opening of our newly refurbished and extended centre, in the early summer.”
